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Porsche board faces €1.8 billion lawsuit

The Local Germany
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Porsche board faces €1.8 billion lawsuit
The hedge funds are now targeting Porsche's chairman and board member. Photo: DPA

A group of hedge funds who were already suing Porsche have launched civil action against the chairman and a board member. The German car giant said on Sunday the claims were "without merit".

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Seven hedge funds are already suing Porsche for damages of €1.8 billion through Hannover state court over a failed merger with Volkswagen in 2008.

But they have now filed a further civil action against chairman Dr Wolfgang Porsche and board member Dr Ferdinand Piëch in Frankfurt, seeking the same amount in compensation.

They claim that Porsche manipulated the markets in the run up to the planned takeover of VW in 2008 – a move that subsequently failed. Volkswagen later merged with Porsche through two deals in 2009 and 2012.

Porsche had initially dismissed speculation that it was seeking a takeover of VW.

However, it later revealed that it owned almost 74 percent of VW shares. It meant investors who had bet against VW shares, in the expectation that would fall, lost money.

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Porsche said in a statement released on Sunday that the legal action was merely tactical and that “neither these supervisory board members nor Porsche SE will be intimidated by this”.

It added that there was nothing new in the civil action case to that already filed at the Hannover state court against Porsche.

“Porsche SE and the two supervisory board members will resort to all legal means to defend themselves,” the statement said.

READ MORE: Porsche to create 1,500 jobs at Leipzig factory

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